Barbieri speaks of synergy between fans and team to highlight Flamengo's current form.
Undefeated since taking the job, the coach keeps his feet on the ground.
By Lucas Dantas - inVictory, leadership, and a positive streak. They've gone seven games unbeaten since Mauricio Barbieri took over the team in April. For the coach, the results are part of a synergy between the team and the fans, who together are driving Flamengo forward this season. After the 2-0 win over Internacional, Barbieri spoke to journalists at the press conference. He made a point of sharing the credit with his squad, emphasizing that there is still much to be done and a long road ahead.
"It was a special match. A special day. We've been talking about it. Flamengo is very strong when it has the support of its fans. It's important that the Nation continues to be on our side and supporting us. And I think it will do that, especially because of the way the team played today, with a lot of commitment, suffocating Inter and not letting them play," said the coach, who also commented on the team's style of play, pressing high from the start.
"Let's play like this" "We can go as far as we can. There will be times when the game won't allow for this kind of marking. It all depends on the game and the situations. Today, Geuvânio, who hadn't been playing, played well. Juan couldn't play and Léo Duarte came in and did well," he explained.
Lucas Paquetá, who scored the first goal, was also a topic of discussion at the press conference. Barbieri praised the player, highlighting his professional growth and how he helps the team not only by setting up plays.
"He's been growing and evolving. He's a more mature player, and it's important to highlight the work he's done at Flamengo since he joined the first team. We talked about him coming back to help more with the build-up play, and getting closer to the defense as well. But besides him, I want to talk about the whole team, who played a great game and everyone behaved very well on the field," he concluded.
See below for more topics from the press conference.
Diego
Diego is a leader in the group, he's technically unquestionable, but I'll only know if we'll be able to count on him or not in a few days. He's still being evaluated.
Game sequence
The schedule is tight, but Flamengo's greatness transcends that. We have to work with this scenario. Our focus now is on Ponte Preta (Thursday, the 06th) and then we'll think about the other games.
Team behavior in both halves
Their team was very defensively minded. We have to remember that it's Internacional, not just any team. We crossed some balls, but it wasn't just crossing. They were quick plays. At halftime, we talked about having more patience and composure to finish with goals. They came back just as defensively minded as in the first half, but we managed to score and came away with the victory.
Guerrero
We're very happy that he's coming back. Of course, he's still far from ideal condition, but little by little he'll improve and grow to help our team even more. We talked beforehand and he ended up playing even more than we thought was necessary today.
Opponents
I understand that people make comments about their opponents, but today Ceará drew with Corinthians in São Paulo. Everything is relative. The victory over Internacional shows that we are on the right track. We won't win anything in the first half of the year and we need to improve. We already have crucial games and we need to keep our feet on the ground to achieve our goals.
Team profile
Regarding set plays, those are everyday things. What I want for the team's image is the Flamengo image. A tenacious, aggressive team that doesn't let the opponent play, as the fans demand and as we want.